Sculptures at home in the Botanic Garden

Sculptures stole the show at the University of Bristol Botanic Garden’s Easter weekend. Visitors were captivated by shimmering damselfly sculptures in the water lily and tropical ponds and entertained by life-sized fabric figures reclining in the wildflower meadow.

‘We were delighted to host the first exhibition of garden sculpture at the University Botanic Garden displaying a wide variety of beautiful, inspirational pieces of work from talented artists,’ said Curator, Nicholas Wray.

Some of the pieces are now on permanent display at the garden. Last year, Willa Ashworth
donated a spherical metal artwork to the Botanic Garden and this year Jude Goss, founder of Lucian Stained Glass, donated a selection of standing stained-glass sculptures exhibited in the Chinese Herb Garden over the Easter weekend.

Goss started making stained glass as a hobby 20 years ago and founded Lucian Stained Glass six years ago. Her dragonfly, flora and standing stained glass exhibits were much admired, demonstrating the versatility of stained glass in different settings. ‘I want to give people more access to something different in their garden by using colour through stained glass,’ she said.

She is not the only member of her family to have a connection with the Botanic Garden. Her brother, Nigel Dunnett, Professor of Horticulture at the University of Sheffield, studied at the University of Bristol and is returning in November to give a lecture to the Friends of the Botanic Garden on the planting of the Olympic Park.